It was an awesome way to spend a birthday and let off some steam from being cooped up for so long. The day after I arrived we tooled around in the upper Fryingpan basin, checking out the river covered in snow. Much different scene than summertime. On super bowl Sunday we headed out to Arches National Park and had some dinner and a brew in Moab. Arches NP was super cool. We did some short hikes to almost all of the Arches. We had the place to ourselves since everyone else in the US was watching the superbowl. We checked out "Wall Street" a climbing area Emily went to this fall, right outside of Moab. I had to sink in a few handjams even though I was pretty much still on the ground.
During the week I rode Emily's bike or drove hger car around Aspen checking out the scene. Good people watching abounds in Aspen, especially in the wintertime.
On Thursday, I met up with Mark and took his sled up into the backcountry. We went way out Richmond Ridge, almost to Taylor Pass. I flipped it a few times and had some other bailouts before I felt very comfortable on it. It was much more of a workout than I expected. I was very sore the next day. Got to see some awesome views from way up at 12,ooo ft. I had never seen or been surrounded by so much snow in my life. It was amazing.
Emily and I left for Orvis Hot Springs just outside of Ouray, CO on Friday after she got off work. We enjoyed some awesome soaking under the crisp,clear, Colorado skies. We saw a few shooting stars even. On Saturday we did a quick tour of Ouray, the ice climbing park, Red Mtn. pass and headed for the Black Canyon. However, after driving to within 5 miles of the North Rim, we found out that the road is closed in wintertime. That was a bummer, but we collected some firewood instead and headed back to 'bonedale. We checked out Abigail Washburn and her string quartet including Bela Fleck in Aspen on Staurday night. It was a killer show!!
And all too soon I had to return home. Even though I didnt get to ski, it was an awesome visit and I cant wait to get back to CO in the winter sometime when I can take advantage of the awesome skiing and snowboarding.
Arches NP:
Hand Jammin' in Moab
All Pictures From Arches/Moab click here
The winter wonderland of CO:
Sledneckin'
Sledneckin'
Mark doing a front flip off of a cornice
The backside of Aspen Highland, the five fingers
Mark, rippin it
Some dude flyfishing on the gold-medal Fryingpan
Where I lived this summer, covered in snow
Stubbs, loving life
Colorado BackcountryThe rest of the Colorado pics, click here
1 comment:
Looks like fun. Too bad you finally came to my state and I wasn't there.. Next time, maybe.
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